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Agrium

Agrium (NYSE: AGU)
The company, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a retailer of agricultural products and services in the United States, Canada, and Argentina and a global producer and wholesale marketer of nutrients for agricultural and industrial markets.

Company Description

Agrium is a leader in the mining/manufacturing of all three of the major fertilizer nutrients, nitrogen, potassium (potash), and phosphate. According to their website, Agrium is the premier supplier of specialty fertilizers in North America through their Advanced Technologies business unit. Agrium’s strategy is to grow across the value chain through acquisition, incremental expansion of existing operations and through the development, commercialization and marketing of new products and international opportunities.

The Retail division sells seed, liquid and dry fertilizer products, along with primary crop protection services including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides through 500 retail centers in the US, Canada, and South America. The division sells nationally in the US, and especially in the plains provinces of Canada. International operations are in Argentina with a few in Chile.

Twelve major production facilities in North America and Argentina, have a total capacity of about ten million tons of fertilizer products annually. This includes about 6.1 million tons of nitrogen, 2.1 million tons of potash and 1.3 million tons of phosphate. About 15% of production is sold for industrial uses, a less seasonal business than fertilizer.

Agrium's Advanced Technologies unit supplies controlled release fertlizer granules for use as a nitrogen source in lawn and turf fertilizers. They also supply micronutrients.